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After creating the Spring 2024 Islands of the South Pacific trip,
I realized how close I was to 250 countries.
Members of the Travelers Century Club (I’m no longer a member) actually
get a Platinum Pin for reaching this threshold. I was also feeling my age and saw my 70th
birthday looming in July 2024. On a whim, I set a personal goal of 250 by
70. A number of options were considered,
but in the end being able to take the Iconic United Airline Island Hopper
flights won me over. I was also able to
add one more country, Hainan Island, China.
The trip ended up being a Round the World trip too, our 7th
Circumnavigation. I subtitled this trip
Crazy Crazy Crazy, since we
stay on each island no more than 2 nights.
I told Susan she didn’t have to come along, since it was my crazy idea,
but for some reason she thinks she has to come along and watch over me.
The following is our itinerary:
Day 1 Monday, May 27
We leave from Dulles Airport early afternoon
and head for Honolulu by way of Los Angles, arriving early evening. We will be staying two nights at the Waikiki
Resort Hotel.
Day 2 Tuesday, May 28
I’m sure we can find some mischief while in
Honolulu for the day. Maybe just walking
about.
Day 3 Wednesday, May 29 and Thursday, May 30
Today we board the first leg of United’s Island
Hopper service. We fly to Majuro, in the
Marshall Islands, which of course counts as new country. We arrive late Thursday morning, after a 5
hour flight having crossed the international date line.
We will be staying at Reimers Hotel for two
nights.
Some back ground of the Island Hopper: In a time
when aircraft like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 are
connecting far-flung cities without intervening stops at hubs, the Island
Hopper is an anachronism. It persists as a vital lifeline for the Pacific
Islands which it serves. The flights carry two pairs of pilots (with one pair
resting until reaching Majuro Atoll where
they swap roles), a mechanic and spare parts, and has provisions to convert the
first few rows of economy seating to medevac space for patients who need to be
transported to Guam or Honolulu.
Day 4 Friday, May 31
Reimer’s hotel own a private island and we will
be taken by speed boat to enjoy beach time and snorkeling.
Day 5 Saturday, June
1
We start the next leg of the hopper service
and leave for Pohnpei, which is part of the Federated
States of Micronesia. We spend two
nights at the Mangrove Bay Hotel.
Day 6 Sunday, June 2
Our guide has provided the following itinerary for
the day: Drive to our first stop at Kepirohi waterfall and take a 6-mile round trip boat ride
through mangroves, reefs, sandbars and stingray city to Nan Madol.
This trip is approximately 6 hours round trip and is around one third of the
island of Pohnpei. The time of departure for this
trip depends on tides as we need a high tide to be able to approach Nan Madol.
Day 7 Monday, June 3
Today we head to Guam, but with a brief stop
in Chuuk. I’m not sure if we deplane or
not. Chuuk is part of Micronesia anyway,
so it wouldn’t count as a country. We arrive in Guam late afternoon and stay one
night at Hotel Tano Guam.
Day 8 Tuesday, June 4
Although technically not part of the Island
Hopper schedule, United flies to Saipan, part of the Northern Marianas. This was a last minute addition to the
itinerary when I discovered we could add another country. Our flight is early morning and we have all
day to explore this island. Tonight we
stay at the Crowne Plaza Resort.
Day 9 Wednesday, June 5
Today will be a busy day. In the morning we fly back to Guam and will
spend the day exploring. At almost midnight
we board another United flight, an extension of the original island hopper
itinerary to Palau.
Day 10 Thursday, June 6
We arrive in Koror, Palau at 1:00am and head
to the Palau Central Hotel for two nights.
During the day we meet Captain Swing who will take us touring and
hopefully snorkeling with stingless jellyfish.
Day 11 Friday, June 7
We spend another day with Captain Swing enjoying the
island life. Late evening, we board another United flight to Manila, Philippines. Staying overnight at the Seda Manila Bay
hotel. The Philippines, is sadly not a new
country.
Day 12 Saturday, June 8
No more United flights. Today we fly via China Southern Airlines to
Sanya, China via Guangzhou, China. Sanya
is on the island of Hainan, and for some reason counts as country, although
part of China. We are still traveling
with our 10 year China Visa from our first Circumnavigation trip which is good until
December 2025. We will be staying one
night at the Holiday Inn Resort.
Day 13 Sunday, June 9
We meet our guide early
in the morning who will give us a brief tour, with the highlight, of sorts,
being the Nanshan Buddhism Cultural Park, with a giant Buddhist Statue. Early afternoon we start our long journey
home flying first to Hong Kong. Our next
flight leaves just after midnight, so we’ll either hangout at the airport in
Hong Kong for 8 hours, or head into town to see something…….
Day 14 Monday, June 10
Just after midnight we board our Ethiopian
flight, stopping first in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to change planes and then Lome, Tome for refueling and a USA security check. We arrive back in Virginia about 8:00pm. Neither
stop is a new country.
For me, 6 new countries, and assuming no changes to the
Spring trip or this trip should bring my country total to 253.